1. Field of the Invention
The invention described and claimed herein is generally related to document backers, carriers and other repair devices for processing damaged checks and the like through automatic processing equipment which utilize magnetically readable characters. More specifically, the present invention is related to document backers suitable for use with contemporary digital imaging check processing systems.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97-1.99.
For about thirty years checks and certain other financial documents have been routinely imprinted with magnetic ink characters, commonly known as MICR characters. MICR characters typically identify the bank on which the check is drawn, the account number of the drawer, and the serial number of the check. These characters are typically readable visually as well as magnetically through the use of special document reading equipment. The characters are typically imprinted along the lower edge of the face of the check or other document. The MICR characters are magnetically readable by "reader-sorter" data processing equipment, through which the checks are processed, read and sorted.
Although various documents may be processed utilizing MICR characters and the associated data processing equipment, for purposes of simplicity the following discussion will refer simply to checks. It will be understood however that all references to checks in this specification are equally applicable to other documents that may be processed in a similar manner.
Millions of checks are processed by the banking industry each day. Processing of each check typically involves several steps. For example, the amount of the check is typically imprinted on the face of the check in magnetically readable characters by clerical personnel. The faces and/or backs of the checks are typically photographed or microfilmed for record keeping purposes. Finally, the checks are passed through reader-sorter data processing equipment which automatically reads the magnetic characters and sorts the checks accordingly. Additionally, as discussed further below, digital imaging equipment is increasingly being used to read and record the information contained on the faces of checks.
Checks may generally be damaged in two ways that impair their automated processing. First, they may be physically torn, mutilated, crumpled, water-damaged or otherwise physically damaged, necessitating that they be reconstructed as best as possible so that they can be read, subsequently photographed, microfilmed or digitally imaged, and also be mechanically processed through document handling equipment.
Secondly, the magnetically readable characters on a check may be damaged or rendered inoperative, for example by exposure to magnetic objects. Checks damaged in this manner are typically repaired by attaching to the check a strip of paper, on which substitute magnetically readable characters are imprinted to replace the damaged MICR characters on the face of the check.
A similar repair is typically performed to correct errors in the MICR characters. Since the amount of each check is typically imprinted on the face of the check in magnetically readable characters by clerical personnel prior to automated processing, there is the possibility of human error being introduced during this step, and in fact such errors occur with some regularity. Such an error results in a miscoded check which must be corrected in the same manner as a check on which the magnetically readable characters are damaged.
Various document repair devices are known in the banking industry to repair damaged checks and to correct checks having altered, unreadable or erroneous magnetic characters. In some cases such devices are intended to only replace the magnetically readable characters. In other cases they are further intended to support and carry physically damaged or unreadable checks through the data processing machines which sort the documents by reading the magnetic characters imprinted on the documents.
The simplest repair device is the repair strip, which is a strip of paper or vellum that is adhered to the lower edge of a check, so as to essentially form an extension of the lower edge of the check, and which can be imprinted with magnetically readable characters which substitute for the characters which have been rendered unreadable on the original check. Examples of repair strips are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,770,943 to Sill and 4,586,975 to Derby. Although repair strips are suitable for replacing unreadable magnetic characters, they do not function to repair a check that is torn or otherwise damaged.
Another class of repair devices consists of document carriers, which take the form of an envelope that supports and carries a torn or damaged check, and which typically also includes an integral repair strip that can accept magnetically readable characters. These devices serve the dual purposes of supporting a damaged check while it is carried through a data processing machine, while also replacing the magnetically readable characters on the check. Examples of such document carriers are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,576,972 to D. J. Wood and H. E. Wood; and in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,071 to Wood.
There are also devices known as document backers, which include a backing sheet that is adhered to the back of a damaged check, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,917 to Gunderson et al. One problem with the document backer disclosed by Gunderson et al. is that the backing sheet is substantially opaque and thus covers the endorsements and other processing instructions typically imprinted on the back of the check, and which are important in establishing and audit trail in the event a check is returned for insufficient funds or is stolen. This problem was partially overcome by the document backer subsequently disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,924 to D. J. Wood and H. E. Wood, which includes a C-shaped backing sheet that leaves a major portion of the back of the check exposed so that endorsements and other written or printed information can be read.
The relatively recent advent of digital imaging systems has resulted in new requirements for document processing systems. Modern imaging systems now coming into use utilize digital images of checks for electronic record keeping, as opposed to the keeping of paper records or even photographic or microfiche records. Additionally, and more importantly, modern imaging systems are increasingly being used to automatically scan and read the dollar amount of a check, through the use of computer programs which enable the system to read handwritten as well as printed numerals. It will be appreciated that this automated capability eliminates the relatively time-consuming and labor-intensive step of manually reading and entering the amount of each check into a data processing system.
It is this latter development which has resulted in the new requirements being imposed on document processing systems. In particular, the face of a check must be completely visible and unimpaired by any kind of cover sheet, even cover sheets which are quite translucent, as provided for example in the document carrier disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,071 to Wood. 18 Although the face of the check must be completely visible, there still remains the requirement that the check be adequately supported and carried in the event that it is physically damaged, so that it can be processed through automated document handling equipment. Further, a check that has been damaged, for example by tearing, must be supported so that the face of the check is reconstructed and supported in its original configuration, so that a digital image reader can accurately digitize and subsequently read the amount of the check.
The document carriers and other repair devices known in the prior art do not meet these requirements. For example, the above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,924 to Wood and Wood discloses a document carrier which is in the form of an envelope which is open along its top edge, and which has a translucent front sheet. Although the translucent front sheet allows a check contained in the carrier to be photographed or microfilmed, it is not considered sufficiently transparent to ensure accurate digital imaging of the face of a check through the translucent front sheet.
Accordingly, it is the object and purpose of the present invention to provide an improved document carrier and repair device which is operable to support and carry a physically damaged check while also allowing the face of the check to be digitally imaged and the back of 18 the check to be photographed, microfilmed, or also digitally imaged.
It is another object and purpose of the present invention to provide a document carrier and repair device which achieves the foregoing object of supporting the check while also leaving visible the entire front and back surfaces of the check.
It is yet another object and purpose of the present invention to provide a document carrier and repair device which achieves the foregoing object and which also allows a torn or otherwise damaged check to be fully rehabilitated, supported and maintained in its original condition suitable for imaging or photographing.